


Stealth Ninja cats: a Vorkosigan snippet

by Sheffield



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen, Gift Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-03
Updated: 2011-09-03
Packaged: 2017-10-23 18:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/253664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheffield/pseuds/Sheffield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miles defends his emperor from the attack of the Stealth Ninja Cat.  No, honestly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stealth Ninja cats: a Vorkosigan snippet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Philomytha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philomytha/gifts).



"It's a cat," Gregor said.  
"It's a *stealth Ninja cat*," Miles said, sucking the blood off the back of his hand.   
From his position behind the sofa the Emperor of Barrayar regarded his protector fondly. Miles - armed now with a fluffy pink cushion, one of the new signs of Empress Laisa's taste gradually superseding his Aunt Alys' - attempted to corner the cat between the sideboard and the drinks cabinet. The beast had appeared, apparently, from nowhere and gone straight for the ankles.  Now it hissed alarmingly, twisted heroically, and slashed a curved set of clawmarks in a zigzag pattern like a scimitar wound down Miles' ankle.

Miles was, however, the lord and master (or at least the feeder and enabler) of Zap the cat, the original feline stealth Ninja. He feinted with the cushion and pounced with the other hand. The cat was pinned to the floor - where it continued to writhe under his hand, succeeding in drawing blood again.

He looked at his hands - both now decorated with identical zig zag slashes like the ones on his ankles.  
"A stealth Ninja cat trying to write its name in my flesh."  
His mother was, he recalled with a familiar sinking feeling, working with Dr Vaagen in the lab on an experiment involving cats...  
"A stealth Ninja cat controlled by the the power of the mind..." Gregor had clearly had the same thought.  Some adaptation of jump ship pilots' implant technology.  One day it might allow paralysed patients to walk again, although at present it had yet to allow an experimental subject to remote-guide an implanted animal.  Gregor lifted his wrist-com.  "Imp sec.  Locate Countess Vorkosigan and put her onto this line *right now*," he said - and then reflexively added  "please."

Miles sat down abruptly, still wrangling the cat into submission.  His Emperor joined him, absently petting the now quiescent beast.  

It was a long silence.

"Took you long enough," Cordelia's voice came over the com.  "I'm all right, though, kiddoes - thanks for the rescue.  Poor old Dr Vaagen had a stroke, looks like, and the equipment jammed.  Took me nearly fifteen minutes to maneuver the beast out of the lab to your location.  Oh, and by the way Gregor, you might like to let those nice boys in Impsec know that they have a cat-shaped hole in their security field."

**Author's Note:**

> (Philomytha had the wonderful idea of giving herself a hobbit birthday party - where she wrote gift snippets for her guests. So I thought I'd write her one back.)


End file.
